Nom­i­na­tions now being accepted for Sec­ond Annual Schol­ar­ship Pro­gram that rewards remark­able stu­dents liv­ing with Crohn’s dis­ease and ulcer­a­tive colitis.

Canada has one of the high­est reported preva­lence of inflam­ma­tory bowel dis­ease (IBD) in the world and 20–30% of peo­ple with IBD are diag­nosed before the age of 20*. To sup­port Cana­dian stu­dents liv­ing with IBD and raise aware­ness about this chronic dis­ease, the Abb­Vie IBD Schol­ar­ship Pro­gram is accept­ing nom­i­na­tions from young peo­ple liv­ing with IBD.

In part­ner­ship with the Crohn’s and Col­i­tis Foun­da­tion of Canada (CCFC), the Abb­Vie IBD Schol­ar­ship Pro­gram is designed to award stu­dents who are liv­ing well with IBD, and strive to sus­tain an opti­mal level of well­ness allow­ing them to excel while inspir­ing oth­ers to do the same. Through an unre­stricted edu­ca­tional grant by Abb­Vie, CCFC will extend seven (7) one-time schol­ar­ships of up to $5,000 CAN to stu­dents liv­ing with IBD who are enter­ing into or are cur­rently attend­ing a post-secondary edu­ca­tional insti­tu­tion. Stu­dents of all ages are wel­come to apply and the schol­ar­ship can be used for any Cana­dian post-secondary insti­tu­tion. “I am com­mit­ted to liv­ing each day to the fullest and I’m so grate­ful to the CCFC and Abb­Vie for giv­ing me the oppor­tu­nity and inspi­ra­tion to push harder and help me excel at my aca­d­e­mic goals,” says Clin­ton Shard, one of seven (7) 2012 “gutsy” schol­ar­ship win­ners. “While the mon­e­tary schol­ar­ship pro­vides an incen­tive, it also rep­re­sents an invest­ment in assist­ing stu­dents liv­ing with IBD and help­ing us achieve our dreams.”

Through ini­tia­tives such as the schol­ar­ship pro­gram, Abb­Vie aims to con­tinue accel­er­at­ing the recog­ni­tion of the bur­den of IBD and help fur­ther the global dis­sem­i­na­tion of evolv­ing approaches to bet­ter care for peo­ple liv­ing with IBD.

“Abb­Vie is proud to part­ner again this year with CCFC for the Abb­Vie IBD Schol­ar­ship Pro­gram. This ini­tia­tive is a great exam­ple of a part­ner­ship that makes a dif­fer­ence in people’s lives,” states Felipe Pas­trana, Gen­eral Man­ager of Abb­Vie Canada. “While our name, Abb­Vie, has changed – our com­mit­ment to the IBD com­mu­nity endures. Over the years, Abb­Vie has shown con­tin­ued com­mit­ment to peo­ple liv­ing with IBD by help­ing orga­ni­za­tions and health care providers alike bet­ter under­stand the impact of these dis­eases on people’s lives. Abb­Vie rec­og­nizes the need for bet­ter dis­ease diag­no­sis and mon­i­tor­ing to help improve the lives of mil­lions of peo­ple affected by this chronic and debil­i­tat­ing dis­ease.” IBD Inci­dence Rates on the Rise Inflam­ma­tory bowel dis­ease, or IBD, is a group of dis­or­ders that causes the intestines to become inflamed and ulcer­ated. This is caused by an abnor­mal response of the body’s immune system.

A recent sur­vey con­ducted by the CCFC found that 69 per­cent of peo­ple who had IBD when they were young were delayed in com­plet­ing their post-secondary edu­ca­tion. 89 per­cent who had IBD as a child felt that they could have achieved more at school with­out their dis­ease. Since there is cur­rently no known cure or cause, young peo­ple need strate­gies to achieve their best long-term health despite their diagnosis.

Unfor­tu­nately, a major­ity of peo­ple liv­ing with IBD endure many chal­lenges when it comes to their edu­ca­tion. With inten­sive med­ical treat­ments, debil­i­tat­ing symp­toms and lengthy hos­pi­tal stays, keep­ing up with school can become extremely difficult.

“Due to the iso­lat­ing nature of the dis­ease, peo­ple liv­ing with IBD too often miss out on the great life expe­ri­ences many of us take for granted, includ­ing com­plet­ing their edu­ca­tion,” says Dr. Kevin Glas­gow, CCFC’s Chief Exec­u­tive Offi­cer. “The Abb­Vie IBD Schol­ar­ship was born of the desire to sup­port stu­dents with Crohn’s and col­i­tis and help empower them to con­tinue their edu­ca­tion and excel to their fullest poten­tial. Our chal­lenge is to find more youth like Clin­ton who are speak­ing out to help reduce the stigma asso­ci­ated with diges­tive dis­ease. By telling their sto­ries through the Abb­Vie IBD Schol­ar­ship Pro­gram, we know we can inspire many oth­ers to do the same at a time when advanc­ing pub­lic under­stand­ing of IBD is needed most.”

The Abb­Vie IBD Schol­ar­ship Pro­gram – The A, B, C’s The Abb­Vie IBD Schol­ar­ship Pro­gram, in part­ner­ship with CCFC, is designed for appli­cants of any age enter­ing into or attend­ing a Canadian-based post-secondary insti­tu­tion. Appli­cants must be:

· A legal and per­ma­nent res­i­dent of Canada;

· Diag­nosed with inflam­ma­tory bowel dis­ease by a physician;

· Seek­ing an associate’s, under­grad­u­ate, or grad­u­ate degree from a Cana­dian uni­ver­sity; col­lege; or enrolled in a trade school edu­ca­tional program;

· Enrolled in or await­ing accep­tance from a Canadian-based post-educational insti­tu­tion for the Fall semes­ter of 2013; and

· A stu­dent who demon­strates aca­d­e­mic aspi­ra­tion and strives to sus­tain an opti­mal level of well­ness in spite of their IBD, allow­ing them to excel to reach their per­sonal and aca­d­e­mic goals and inspir­ing oth­ers to do the same. Visit www.ccfc.ca<http://www.ccfc.ca> for full appli­ca­tion details.

About CCFC:

· The Crohn’s and Col­i­tis Foun­da­tion of Canada (CCFC) is a volunteer-based reg­is­tered char­ity ded­i­cated to find­ing the cure for Crohn’s dis­ease and ulcer­a­tive col­i­tis and improv­ing the lives of chil­dren and adults affected by these chronic dis­eases. To date, the CCFC has invested more than $76 mil­lion in research, mak­ing the foun­da­tion a world leader in non-governmental fund­ing of IBD research.

· Cana­dian researchers funded by CCFC are con­duct­ing cut­ting edge research and are sus­tain­ing the hope for a cure worldwide.

About Abb­Vie Abb­Vie (NYSE:ABBV) is a global, research-based bio­phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal com­pany formed in 2013 fol­low­ing sep­a­ra­tion from Abbott. Abb­Vie com­bines the focus and pas­sion of a leading-edge biotech with the exper­tise and struc­ture of a long-established phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal leader. The company’s mis­sion is to use its exper­tise, ded­i­cated peo­ple and unique approach to inno­va­tion to develop and mar­ket advanced ther­a­pies that address some of the world’s most com­plex and seri­ous dis­eases. Abb­Vie aims to help patients live health­ier lives and col­lab­o­rate on sus­tain­able health­care solu­tions. Abb­Vie employs approx­i­mately 21,000 peo­ple world­wide and mar­kets med­i­cines in more than 170 coun­tries. For fur­ther infor­ma­tion on the com­pany and its peo­ple, port­fo­lio and com­mit­ments, please visit www.abbvie.com<http://www.abbvie.com> or www.abbvie.ca<http://www.abbvie.ca>. Fol­low @abb­vie on Twit­ter or check out careers on their Face­book page.